Chad Hillier Knoxville II summary

Hillier Has Bitter-Sweet Run at Knoxville
KNOXVILLE, IA (June 16) -- Considering Chad Hillier's evening
ended in the "C" Feature the last time the World of Outlaws raced at
Knoxville Raceway, driving the ...

Hillier Has Bitter-Sweet Run at Knoxville

KNOXVILLE, IA (June 16) -- Considering Chad Hillier's evening
ended in the "C" Feature the last time the World of Outlaws raced at
Knoxville Raceway, driving the #5C DIRT Inc. Maxim into 23rd-place in
Saturday's Media.com Outlaws Shootout at "The Home of the Nationals"
was an improvement. The Kevin Gobrecht Rookie of the Year candidate
expected more of himself, however.

"It was better than last time, but not as good as we hoped
for," Hillier said. "We had a good starting position in the heat race,
but we fell back to sixth, unfortunately, and had to run the 'B' Main.
We were a little disappointed but, on the other hand, happy, too. There
were a few who didn't make it (Dion Hindi, Jeremy Campbell, Jason Sides
and Tony Bruce Jr.). The worst thing was that we had a good opportunity
to make the dash and we didn't. We were fortunate to start in the first
couple of rows of the 'B' Main or we wouldn't have made the feature."

Hillier's 16.260-second lap was the 16th-fastest in the 47-car
field. He started on the pole in the Fourth Heat Race, but lost his
chance to race in the Crane Cams Dash when he finished sixth behind World
of Outlaws veterans Steve Kinser, Donny Schatz, Joey Saldana, Brooke
Tatnell and Daryn Pittman. Chad earned the privilege of starting the
25-lap "A" Feature outside the eighth row by finishing second in the
"B" Feature.

Hillier surrendered 20th place in the main event when he spun in
the first corner early in the seventh lap.

"After they opened the track up (for the 'A' Feature), the
cars running in the low groove were throwing marbles out and I entered
the turn a little too high in the marbles and got sideways," Hillier
said. "I didn't want to be parked sideways on the racetrack, so I tried
to spin out of it and keep going, but it stalled.

"I wish we could have done better; I wish we could do it over
again. I made a few wrong calls. When the rubber laid down, we changed
some things. We probably should have just left it alone and we would have
been a lot better. We tried to free the car up a little bit, but we just
went a little too far.

"The track was pretty dry when we got there. I was pretty
unhappy when I drew an early pill (for qualifying). That's three nights
in a row we've run on rubber. There was only one groove at the start of
the feature, but we started moving around and found a couple more. Then
it started laying rubber again toward the end."

The Media.com Outlaws Shootout was the inaugural event in the
"SuperClean Summer of Money," a series of telecasts on ESPN2 each
Sunday between June 17 and August 5. Saturday's race was televised at 11
a.m. EDT on June 17th.

DIRT Inc. will be back in World of Outlaws action Wednesday at
another half-mile oval -- Missouri State Fair Speedway in Sedalia, MO --
then head to Dodge City Raceway Park for the Boot Hill Showdown Friday
and Saturday.

"Sedalia is another big track so, hopefully, we can get going
there," Hillier said. "Then we go to Dodge City, which is a really nice
place."